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Submillimeter Fourier Transform Spectroscopy of Astronomical Sources

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Abstract

From the 4000 m altitude of Mauna Kea, submillimeter wavelength astronomical observations are often possible at frequencies up to nearly 1 THz. To measure broadband astronomical and atmospheric spectra in the available atmospheric transmission windows between 150 GHz and 1 THz, we have built a moderate resolution (λ/Δλ < 5000) Fourier Transform Spectrometer for use at the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory (CSO). The instrument is a dielectric-beamsplitter rapid-scan FTS which uses the CSO’s facility bolometer as its single detecting element. Five bandpass filters are used to match to the available atmospheric transmission windows, in order to limit the background flux on the detector. The maximum path difference is 45 cm, yielding a spectral resolution of 200 MHz. The instrumental field of view is defined by a Winston cone light concentrator. Observations with this instrument have now begun to yield high quality astronomical spectra, several of which are described in the following.

© 1995 Optical Society of America

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